


Western

by Nigaki



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Humor, M/M, POV Outsider, Post-Canon, it's not really morston but they live together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:35:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28381812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nigaki/pseuds/Nigaki
Summary: Arthur and John get an offer to play in a movie.
Relationships: John Marston/Arthur Morgan
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	Western

“We have arrived, sir.”

Robert looked outside of the window excitedly, awe with the sights. Wonderful! Simply breathtaking! A perfect background for his masterpiece.

The car driven by the chauffeur rode for a little longer before it stopped in front of the main house.

“This is amazing, just like I imagined!” Robert admitted to his friend and coworker, who was also a talented writer, Jessie Ratford. “Well, it could use some changes but apart from that? Perfection! You were right about this place, dear friend!”

“I told you the local landscapes were made to use in the movie,” Jessie replied, leaving the car after Robert. Chauffeur turned off the engine and stood outside by the driver’s door to wait till they would have to leave again. It would take some time, Robert intended to thoroughly look around his new film set.

“You did,” he nodded and took a deep breath. Wonderful mountain air! Much better than the dry one in California. “I can picture filming some scenes already.”

Jessie stopped next to him and chuckled. “The actors will feel like on holidays when they arrive.”

Some distance from them, two men watched them curiously and with a bit of suspicion. It was probably the first time they saw people from a big city, maybe even the first time they’ve seen a car.

“There isn’t too much cowboy atmosphere here,” Robert complained to his friend. “I would add more bales of hay near some of the fences.”

“Some well instead of a regular pomp would be better too.”

“Color wise speaking, there is not a lot of wild west here either,” Robert kept criticizing. “Not enough yellow and orange.”

“Not everything has to happen in the wild west,” Jessie assured him. “This is where Elizabeth will be living. The forbidden fruit, the distance dream of a normal life. There needs to be some contrast between this and the dangerous wild west.”

Robert nodded. “You're right. Maybe we can even hire locals to play some unimportant roles.”

The two men looked decent. Not cowboy enough but at least one of them could ride a horse and that was something, since none of their actors could do that. Along with his partner he was leading two cows out of the pasture. He and Jessie could use livestock too.

“Excuse me,” someone behind them spoke, using a very gravelly voice. “The hell are you doing on our ranch?”

Robert and Jessie both turned towards the house where another two men stood on the porch, clearly older than the two taking care of cows. One was completely grey but his hair and beard were still very thick and fluffy, while the other was only starting to show his older age, with strings of silver among the long, straight black hair. Neither looked friendly, especially the second one. He had some nasty old scars on one of his cheeks and his eyes glowed with something wild. He seemed more dangerous than his friend despite the gray-haired man being bigger.

“We’re deeply sorry for intrusion,” Robert apologized and stepped closer to both men. The one with the scars moved away and leaned against the railing of the porch, curiously watching Robert and his friend and seemingly leaving the talking to his older companion. “I’m Robert Sanford, movie director. And this is my good friend Jessie Ratford, writer.”

Robert exchanged his hand for shaking but the farmer in front of him didn’t even look at it.

“Never heard of,” the man said. Robert wasn't surprised, there was no movie theater in the nearest town and such simple people didn’t watch movies in the first place. Not to mention reading Jessie’s books. These two probably didn’t even know how to read.

“We’re here to look at the movie set,” Jessie joined the explanation. “You see, gentleman, your farm-”

“It’s a ranch,” the man with the scars corrected him. He had a strange voice, a little frightening.

“-is a perfect place for a few scenes for our movie.”

“Movie set?” the grey one repeated.

“Exactly!” Robert confirmed, excited, as always whenever he was talking about his project. “We’re making a story about a bandit that fell in love with a beautiful farmer girl and needs to choose between living as an outlaw and living a simple life on a farm. His enemies take the woman as a hostage in this house!”

“A woman alone on a ranch this big?” The man with the scars laughed.

“We’ll get rid of some of the buildings,” Jessie explained.

The older man frowned at him. “Pardon?”

“We’ll start with this pasture,” Robert explained, pointing at one of the fences. “As for the house, there are not enough windows and the walls aren’t… cowboy enough. Especially the front one could use some animal skulls. A double barrel or a hat, perhaps?”

“This is a house, not an art gallery.”

“The porch needs some fixing too,” he continued listing. Both men looked at him like he was some kind of lunatic. They evidently didn’t understand his art vision. “Too wide, like in a house of some rich folks. We need something smaller. We’ll demolish it and build a new one. And one of the walls needs to go too, to have better access to inside shots.”

“You want to demolish parts of our home.” Robert scrambled back when the man in front of him stepped towards him. He turned to be really tall when he got closer. “To film a movie.”

“We’ll pay you of course,” Jessie calmed the man down, stepping onto the porch without fear. The scarred man watched him like a hawk, unoving, but his eyes followed Jessie’s every move as he looked around the porch. “It should cover the costs of rebuilding the house after we’re done. And you’ll get one life chance to play in a movie, gentlemen. What do you say about the role of outlaws that will hold the girl of a main hero hostage? You’ll need some characterization and learn how to act the part but I’m sure you’ll play decent.”

The two men shared a look, amused by something.

“So what do you think, sirs?” Robert asked, expecting nothing else but agreement. “Do we have a deal?”

“To destroy our home we built with our own hands?” The low voice of the grey-haired man sent shivers down Robert’s spine. He took another step back, eyeing the gun hanging by the man’s hip. He only now noticed it.

“For money,” he reminded nervously.

“I don’t care about your money,” the farmer replied. “You can put it in your stinky car and get the hell out of my land before I shoot you.”

Robert gaped at him. “You can’t speak to me like that!” he shouted, offended. He looked at his friend, the scarred man got closer to him and he had a gun as well. How could they not notice it earlier? “I’m a director from Hollywood!”

“I don’t give a damn about who you are and about your Hollywood,” the man growled and pulled out a revolver. “And I don’t give a damn about your movie. Get lost before I show you how the wild west really looked like.”

“Don’t touch me!” Jessie screamed suddenly, held by the collar of his jacket by the other farmer, pushed around like a disobedient child. “You know how much this suit cost? More than your farm!”

“It’s a ranch,” the man corrected him and pushed Jessie down the stairs. Robert watched in shock as his friend fell onto the ground. “Now get the hell out of here, now!”

“You’re gonna regret it,” Robert warned them. He wanted to help his friend but when he tried, the gray-haired man grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed towards the car. Their chauffeur watched everything with worry, keeping his hand near the gun he carried to protect both Robert and Jessie.

“I said get lost!” the farmer ordered them and then his eyes fell on the chauffeur. “And you.” He pointed his finger at the man. “Don’t even think about it. My eyes and hand ain’t what they used to be but I’ll shoot your hand off if you try to play a hero.”

Chauffeur moved his hand away from the gun immediately. There was something in the farmer’s voice that was telling them he wasn’t joking. And the fact his friend had his hand on the gun as well, ready to shoot back in case of the fight that Jessie and Robert had no way of winning.

Jessie, basically on his four, slipped past the man and got to the car alongside Robert. Chauffeur was already turning the crank at the front to get it going.

“You’re going to regret refusing us!” Robert told them again.

“I highly doubt it,” the scarred man responded and walked calmly to his friend, leaning against his shoulder comfortably. They both saluted them with two fingers. “Good luck with your movie.”

Jessie gasped. “The audacity of this man,” he whispered to Robert. The chauffeur finally started the car and they drove off quickly.

“They’re peasants,” Robert noted. “They have no idea what opportunity just slipped through their fingers. Shame, but if they want to be some uncultured farmers for the rest of their lives, so be it. I’m not going to force them into anything. It’s like trying to teach a monkey to play Chopin.”

Jessie nodded in agreement. “You’re right,” he said, trying to clean his suit from the grass and dirt. “We’ll find another farm. And other men to play outlaws. These two weren’t good for the job anyway. Too old.”

“And they probably never saw an outlaw with their own eyes,” Robert added with a chuckle. “After all, they’re just some farmer living in the middle of nowhere.”

**Author's Note:**

> Let's be honest, Arthur and John would be the kind of grandpas that yell "get out of my lawn!" at younger people.


End file.
